Telephony system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method of handling calls related to advertisements, comprising accepting an incoming call from a caller regarding an advertisement; calling the contact corresponding to the advertisement; receiving acceptance input from the contact to indicate whether the contact is to receive no more calls on the advertisement, is to receive further calls but not the present call, or is to take the call; and if the received acceptance input indicates that the contact is to take the call, connecting the caller to the contact.
In embodiments, the advertisements may be identified by references, and details of the advertisements stored in a database.
The method may further comprise the steps of receiving input from the caller in the form of a reference to the advertisement; extracting from a database details of the advertisement corresponding to the reference; and testing the extracted details to determine whether the contact is to take calls, and if not informing the caller, but otherwise calling the contact.
If the received acceptance input indicates that the advertiser is to receive no further calls on the advertisement, the database may be updated to indicate this fact.
The number dialled by the caller may be identified, for example using a dialled number identification system to determine the dialled number.
The contact may be the advertiser himself, an agent of the advertiser, an agency, a central bureau handling calls for a number of advertisers, or automatic voice response systems, a computer system or any suitable system, individual or group capable of dealing with incoming calls on behalf of the advertiser.
The telephone number of the caller may be determined, stored, and the caller then disconnected after the caller's details have been taken.
The contact may then be called, and if the received acceptance input indicates that the contact wishes to take the call the caller can be dialled to connect the caller to the contact